


They Don't Know About Us

by things_nct



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Wow Taeyong is so in love, class clown!Taeil, ice prince!Taeyong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 07:16:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16551377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_nct/pseuds/things_nct
Summary: Not a lot of people understand Taeil and Taeyong’s relationship, but that’s ok.





	They Don't Know About Us

Not a lot of people understand Taeil and Taeyong’s relationship, but that’s ok. Taeyong himself doesn’t even understand sometimes. How could the class clown open his heart so easily to the ice prince? But other times, Taeyong doesn’t understand how they didn’t find each other faster. These are the times he’s constantly reminded that he knows why their relationship works so well. When they brush against each other in the hallways, he knows. Whenever Taeil talks to Taeyong’s mom, he knows. When they sit in their respective rooms, late at night, phones pressed to their ears as they talk about everything under the sun and moon, he knows. And most of all, in class, when they’re on opposite sides of the classroom, Taeyong knows. Taeil will be in the front, half standing half sitting in his seat, cracking a joke, and their eyes will meet over the heads of everyone else. While the classroom erupts into laughter around them, Taeil simply tilts his head, eyes bright and eager, like a puppy’s. If they were alone, Taeyong knows exactly what his boyfriend would say while shaking his arm in excitement. _Do you get it Yong? C’mon, do you get it?_ And Taeyong’s facade would drop, the boy clutching his sides as his laughter ricochets throughout the room. _Of course I get it Illie,_ Taeyong would giggle, wiping tears away as he leans into his boyfriend’s side. _I always get it_ . But they’re not alone right now, so Taeyong makes do with a slight eyebrow raise in response, letting his eyes do the talking for him. _I get it, hyung. I get you._

 

The branches sway gently in the breeze, mesmerizing Taeyong as he stares at the green canopy rippling above him. The grass underneath him tickles the back of his neck, but Taeyong can’t seem to find the energy to move as the quiet _shh-shh_ of the wind through the trees lulls him into a trace. A trance that is soon broken by the appearance of a scarlet head leaning over him.

“You coming to class?”

Taeyong merely grunts in response, closing his eyes in a vain attempt to will the disturbance away. After a few moments his eyes crack open again, greeted with the same tomato-red hair. “I’m tired,” Is the only explanation Taeyong gives. Taeil simply nods, laying down next to the boy on the ground and staring up into the trees. Taeyong closes his eyes again, trying desperately to return to the state of peace he was in before. But now the noise of the outside world has re-entered the boy’s consciousness. The game of soccer being played on a near field is no longer soothing background noise, but a jarring mess of yelling and activity. Grass prickles at the back of his neck and Taeyong can practically feel the bugs underneath him trying to crawl into his clothes. Hoping that removing the initial distraction would remove the new distractions, Taeyong pipes up, “You don’t need to stay here with me. You, at least, should go to class.”

“I’m ok here.” Is the response Taeyong gets. Huffing, Taeyong pushes himself up off the ground.

“Well you already disturbed me enough. Let's just go to class.”

Grinning, Taeil grabs Taeyong’s proffered hand and allows himself to be pulled to his feet. As they walk to class together, neither boy lets go, hands swinging in between them. The last bell rings right as the pair reaches the classroom, signaling the end of lunch. Taeyong moves to let go, but Taeil clenches tighter, tugging his boyfriend into the classroom and down into the seat next to him. The change in classroom noise is barely perceptible, eyes latching onto the couple and voices quieting for a moment before people return to their conversations with renewed vigor, but being a person who has observed the classroom dynamics around him his entire life, Taeyong definitely notices. As he looks at Taeil in confusion, the shorter reaches into his backpack, pulling out his notebook. Scribbling something down, Taeil hands the notebook over.

_Everyone already knows we’re dating. Might as well give them a bit of a show._

Taeyong smiles and shakes his head, handing back the notebook as the teacher walks in the room. The class continues the same as always, the teacher doing their best to make the restricting lesson guidelines fun, and Taeil cracking jokes as often as he can, but this time, instead of looking across the room, all Taeil has to do is look immediately to his left to see the love shining through his boyfriend’s eyes.

 

It took a bit of adjusting, but Taeyong is now used to the looks he gets walking down the halls hand-in-hand with his boyfriend. In the beginning, Taeyong would shy away from the blatant gawking, looking down at the floor and pulling Taeil close, uncomfortable with the attention. Now, he holds his head high, striding with their hands out in the open for everyone to see. _Yes, we are together,_ Taeyong’s gaze screams to the world, daring them to say something. Now that Taeyong looks everyone in the eye, and he can quickly interpret their stares. Most common in confusion, and Taeyong doesn’t blame them for that one. Where Taeyong is sharp edges and chills, Taeil is softness and warmth, drawing people in. Their hair even clashes, Taeil’s fire meeting Taeyong’s icy locks. The second most common stare is disregard. Most people think it’s pointless to start a relationship the senior year of high school, when both parties aren’t sure what the future holds. Taeyong understands that one too, but he believes going into uncertainty holding hands with the person you love makes it a lot easier. The last kind of stare, the one that hurts the most, is the stare of distaste. The stare that asks _What is someone so stunning doing with someone so plain?_ And everytime Taeyong sees that stare the hurt digs a little deeper, because these people don’t know Taeil. They don’t see how beautiful he is when he smiles, when he frowns, when he concentrates. They don’t see past his funny exterior into the depths of love and itelligence barely hidden underneath. And if Taeyong could, he would march up to every single person and tell them his story.

His story of enrolling a new high school his very last year, a new school on a long list of schools that he went through because of the amount of moving his father’s job required. Taeyong entered the school with low hopes, knowing that if he kept his head down he would be able to graduate with no issues and head to college, where he might be able to finally find a home. These plans were ruined on the first day when the school’s ice clique saw him and recognized him as one of their own, deciding to take him in. The first member of the clique Taeyong met was Doyoung, the student council president who showed Taeyong around the school. His shrewd eyes immediately read that Taeyong’s cold exterior was merely an illusion, compelling him to invite the new student to sit with his friends. Taeyong met the rest at lunch, learning more about them and what the ice clique really hid. Doyoung’s sharp tongue was infamous throughout the school, but his compassionate heart was much lesser known. Yuta, Senior, resident jock, and captain of the soccer team, could put anyone down with simply a look. Although, he couldn’t seem to quell his fears about being good enough in the eyes of his older college boyfriend. And finally, Ten, the youngest member of the group, was the resident heartbreaker. Having rejected many confessions from men and women alike, Ten’s aloof aura just enticed more people to want to be the one to “break” him and make him fall in love. On the contrary, Ten wasn’t haughty or uncaring, he simply wasn’t interested in people who weren’t serious about making a relationship work. Ten wanted to ensure that what happened to his parents would not happen to him.

Once Taeyong was seen with the three boys, people assumed he was the newest member of the group and didn’t bother approaching him. The ice clique’s hardened shell turned everyone away, and people had long stopped trying to connect with the boys. That is, most people. There were only two men who still somehow managed to get past the barriers and find themselves in the warmth that radiated from the center of the clique. Jaehyun, Junior and Doyoung’s vice president, worked diligently with a dimpled smile to relieve as much weight as he could off of his president’s shoulders, while Johnny, childhood friend of Ten and Senior star of the basketball team reached out and provided support and encouragement to the youngest member that the others couldn’t. Observing the two boys’ actions, Taeyong marveled at how oblivious they were. Jaehyun was never fazed when Doyoung exploded, pacing around the room and ranting about the restrictions the school placed on them and how their efforts didn’t make a change in the lives of the students at all. Johnny didn’t seem to realize that he and Ten were in different social stratospheres, always waving to the group of friends in the hallways and even going as far as to sit with them at lunch once a week. As time went on, Taeyong realized that the two boys were a lot smarter than he gave them credit. Jaehyun’s persistence in sticking by Doyoung eventually paid off as the elder slowly softened, confiding in the younger and allowing himself to lean on Jaehyun. Johnny definitely knew that in the eyes of high school social hierarchy, he and Ten didn’t mix, but he just didn’t care. He was going to be there for his friend, no matter what anyone else thought. And Yuta, oh-so-insecure Yuta, finally broke down and cried to his boyfriend, finding the reassurances that he needed that entire time. The ice walls surrounding the clique started to crack, broken down by worthy men who worked with dogged determination. Seeing this, Taeyong started to hope that maybe there was someone out there for him, someone who would see past the hard lines of Taeyong’s exterior so the soft, anxious center.

With the introduction of Jaehyun and Johnny to the group, it was inevitable that Taeil made his way inside too. He and Johnny had been attached at the hip since freshman year, jokes bouncing off each other in the classrooms. The first time Taeyong really took notice of Taeil was in History, one of the three classes they shared together. It was two months into the school year and Taeyong and Ten were sitting in the back of the classroom, looking and feeling unattainable. Of course Johnny had to tromp in, effectively ruining all of Ten’s plans to look detached in a moment. The small boy sat up, fidgeting and uncertain that his old friend would acknowledge him. Every time they were in the same room, Ten became insecure, and every time Johnny reminded him that he had no reason to be. Forgoing his usual place in the front, Johnny loped to the back and plopped into the vacant seat next to Ten. This was the first time Taeyong truly noticed Johnny’s short red-haired shadow. Sliding into the seat next to Taeyong, Taeil gave a shy smile, nodding and saying, “Hello. I’m Taeil.” Flustered, Taeyong replied “I know,” before turning and pulling out his notebook. Taeyong, in fact, didn’t know this, but when faced with such a beautiful smile he couldn’t help but panic. The teacher entered the classroom and Taeyong thought it was the end of the possible new friendship, until a stray piece of paper found its way onto Taeyong’s desk. He looked over at his neighbor, but the redhead was staring straight ahead, entirely focused on the lesson.

_This was interesting until Mrs. En refused to move on for three weeks._

Taeyong smiled a bit, scribbling back a response.

_I know. We’ve spent almost a month in the topic. How much more can we possibly learn about the Korean War?_

Taeyong tossed the paper back, it appearing again on his desk after a few moments.

_Exactly! By the way, did you do the biology homework?_

Taeyong raised his eyebrows, thinking _we have biology together?_ but instead choosing to write _we had homework?_

Taeil chuckled at this, reaching into his bag and pulling out the work for the forgetful white haired boy to copy down. Quickly writing the answers out, Taeyong handed the paper back with a note of thanks.

“Alright, choose your partner!” Taeyong’s head snapped up as he realized he’s already missed half the lesson and had no idea what was going on. He turned to his right only to see Johnny claiming the blushing Ten for himself. Not wanting to disturb his friends happiness, Taeyong faced forward, eyes frantically scanning the room for someone who would actually want to work with him.

“Do you want to be my partner?” Taeil looked at his taller neighbor in anticipation and Taeyong sighed in relief, saved from the awkwardness of having to approach someone himself.

“Sure.”

Over the next few weeks Taeyong found himself going over to the other boy’s house almost every night, initially to work on their presentation but they often find themselves becoming distracted with video games or messing around. Their nights were filled with laughter, and Taeil’s mother saw Taeyong so often she treated him as another son. Taeil started to join Johnny whenever he ate at the ice clique’s table, sharing shy smiles with Taeyong and inside jokes that left everyone else confused.

Two weeks later and they have a day until their presentation, forcing the boys to buckle down and finish it. Taeyong was on the floor of Taeil’s bedroom writing their cue cards while Taeil sat on the bed, pouring over his notes and adding details to the powerpoint. With a sigh, Taeil pushed the laptop away and flopped back onto his bed, looking up at the ceiling.

“My brain is fried.” He grumbled, rubbing his eyes. Taeyong finished another note card, reading it over before peering over the edge of the bed, resting his chin on the sheets and looking over at the other boy.

“I guess we could take a short break. What do you want to do?”

Taeil gasped, sitting back up and turning to Taeyong. “I know!” His eyes were wide and eager, shimmering as he leaned closer to the boy on the floor. Taeyong gulped, tilting back a tiny bit. Had Taeil’s eyes always been this deep brown, drowning him in its depths?

“Wha-what do you have in mind?” Both boys are frozen and Taeyong can see the wheels turning in Taeil’s head.

“Dance party!” Taeil grabbed his laptop, queuing up some music before sliding off his bed. Standing over the still-seated Taeyong, the redhead offered a hand. Taeyong hesitated, wondering if the embarrassment was worth it, but eventually shrugged, taking the hand and allowing himself to be pulled up off the ground. _If I’m going to embarrass myself in front of anyone, it might as well be Taeil._ Letting go of the hand, Taeil started to move to the beat, Taeyong watching in interest. He stifled a snicker as he realized watching Taeil dance is like watching a middle aged dad figure out what music is for the first time. The shoulders start to move first, bouncing up and down to the beat as Taeil swayed in place. His arms were bent parallel to the ground, fingers splayed out as Taeil’s head bobbed, face displaying a proud smirk.

“C’mon Taeyong, dance!”

Giggling, Taeyong proceeded to do his best impression of a robot, jerky movements sending Taeil into a fit of laughter. The pair danced around the room, grooving to the beat of several songs before collapsing, flushed from the exertion and laughing together. Taeil got up to switch off the music and turn on the fan, Taeyong huffing and puffing on the floor. Watching the fan spin above him and listening to the calming _whrr-whrr_ Taeyong didn’t notice Taeil settle next to him until he spoke up.

“Taeyong?”

“Hmm?” Taeyong looked to the side, finding himself nose-to-nose with Taeil. Blushing, the frosty-haired boy whipped his head forward, looking back at the fan.

“Will you go on a date with me?” Taeil whispered, so quiet Taeyong can barely even hear it. Initial surprise is soon overtaken by happiness, and Taeyong rolled to his side, propping himself up on his elbow.

“Really?” Taeyong smiled down at his neighbor, who was blushing but staring back confidently.

“Yeah.”

One date leads to two, then three, then so many Taeyong couldn’t even count. Lunchtime picnics merge into afterschool coffee and study dates in the library. Taeyong was the one who asked if they could be boyfriends, hanging up in the middle of a late night phone call to drive to the other’s house because Taeil deserved to be asked in person. They shared their first kiss behind the school as they waited for Doyoung and Jaehyun to be let out of the student council meeting. The boys were giggling together, as usual, Taeyong bending to rest his head on Taeil’s shoulder. As their laughter died down, Taeyong tilted his head slightly as Taeil glanced down, their eyes meeting. Taeil’s gaze softened as he looked at him, Taeyong’s cheeks aching from smiling so much. Leaning back a bit Taeil nudged Taeyong up, forcing him to stand on his own. In a sudden burst of confidence Taeil turned to his boyfriend, sliding a hand to the back of his neck to brush through the bleached white hairs at his nape. His other arm encircled Taeyong’s waist, pulling him closer. Taeyong stood stock still, looking down at his boyfriend.

“Can I kiss you?” Taeil murmurs, looking deep into Taeyong’s eyes.

Taeyong can barely breathe as he nods, tilting his head down as he’s pulled flush against Taeil, eyes slipping shut as their lips meet. The first peck is hesitant, a slight pressure before Taeil pulls back, making sure Taeyong is ok. Taeyong huffs a bit, bringing his hands up to weave through the hairs at the back of Taeil’s head, pulling to close the gap. Lips meet again, slotting together as Taeyong tilted his head, finding the optimal angle. Taeil rocked forward slightly, pushing back against Taeyong as their lips start to slide against each other. Taeyong is suddenly turned and his back is pressed up against the wall, his mouth gasping open as Taeil tugged at the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

“Oh my God!”

The two men pull apart, gasping and flushed as they turned to look at their indignant friend.

“We ask kindly for you to wait for us and this is what you two get up too?”

Taeyong rolled his eyes, annoyed at being interrupted. “Oh c’mon Doyoung I know that meeting ended half an hour ago. What exactly were you and Jae getting up to in that time?”

Doyoung proceeds to blush and sputter while the tall brunette behind him merely grins proudly, leaning forward and motioning to a small bruise on the side of Doyoung’s neck.

As the weeks pass Taeil kisses and hugs Taeyong’s walls down, the two men falling into a synchronicity that Taeyong had never experienced with anyone else. In the comfort of their friend group they were definitely the most quiet members, using shared looks and small touches to communicate. Finishing each other’s sentences soon became a habit that quickly annoyed everyone else in the ice clique, Yuta grumbling “They already don’t talk enough, but now they’re just sharing their words?” In Biology and the other class they discovered they have together, English, they still sat on their respective sides of the room, Taeil in front, Taeyong in back. History, though, became a haven of passed notes and laughter they stifled so the teacher wouldn’t catch them. It’s during one of these moments, when Taeil smiles at Taeyong over his response to why their teacher has such a horrible wardrobe ( _she’s obviously still stuck in the past_ ), that Taeyong realizes what he should’ve seen coming from a thousand miles away. In a dingy classroom under the flickering, unflattering lights Taeyong realizes he’s inarguably, overwhelmingly, hands down, in love with Moon Taeil. The class clown with obnoxiously red hair. The man who fades in the shadows in order to surprise you with his witty responses. The man whose gentle smile and soft voice melted Taeyong’s icy exterior.

This is what Taeyong would tell all those people who don’t understand what he sees in Taeil. But, as Taeil likes to remind him whenever Taeyong gets in an irked mood, no one has three hours to hear that entire story. So Taeyong settles for glaring at the people who are a little too obviously surprised, reminding them that they don’t need to worry about other people’s relationships, especially if that relationship involves Taeyong.

 

It’s spring semester and nearing graduation for the crew. In an attempt for a last minute celebration, Taeyong invites everyone over to his house. Taeil arrives first, of course, bringing chips and dip. Walking into the kitchen, Mrs. Lee gives her son and son’s boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek before heading out for her date night with Mr. Lee.

“Have fun kids!” She calls out, her husband adding “But not too much!”

The next to arrive are Doyoung and Jaehyun with soda, still as punctual as ever from the student government days, even though their terms ended in December. They’re setting up the drink station when Johnny and Ten arrive, hand-in-hand. Johnny finally asked Ten out last month, and the two couldn’t be happier. The last to arrive are Yuta and Hansol, Hansol already done with his finals week, and therefore done with his first year of college. Everyone spreads out in the living room, chatting amongst themselves and waiting for the pizza to arrive. Hansol and Yuta snuggle on the couch, Yuta arguing with Doyoung who is perched on Jaehyun’s lap in an armchair. Taeyong sits next to Hansol, catching up from when they had last seen each other over winter break. Ten and Johnny sit on the floor with Taeil, discussing a movie they had recently seen. As the doorbell rings and Taeyong stands up to get it, paying the pizza man and grabbing plates for the group. As Taeyong walks back into the room, Taeil calls out his name. Looking over at the redhead, Taeyong raises his eyebrows and waits. Standing, Taeil suddenly wriggles his entire body, nodding once and then sitting back down. Taeyong nods back, solemnly returning the wriggle. Setting the plates and pizza boxes on the coffee table, Taeyong turns to go get napkins as he hears Johnny quietly whispering “ _what the fuck?_ ” and Ten responding “ _I don’t know, that’s just how they communicate._ ” Taeyong smiles to himself, bringing the napkins back into the room and opening up the boxes for people to serve themselves. Grabbing a plate for himself and Taeil, he sits next to his boyfriend on the carpet.

“Remember that rumor that went around a few months ago that I was a robot?” Taeyong asks, looking at his friends. As they murmur in confirmation, Taeyong continues, “Whenever I get weird chills and shiver, Taeil says that I’m ‘glitching.’ So now we just kind of… ‘glitch’ at each other.” Everyone nods and smiles, while Yuta looks down at them in absolute amazement.

“You two are the weirdest people I’ve ever met.”

Taeyong just shrugs, leaning back as Taeil wraps and arm around him.

 _That’s ok, you don’t have to get it,_ Taeyong thinks as he smiles at his boyfriend.

_We get it._

**Author's Note:**

> The characterization of Taeyong and Taeil in neohyucksb's "In the Days We Deemed Dull" really interested me and made me wonder what it would be like if they were to date. Since I didn't want to copy neohyucksb's work, I decided to take the characters and put them in a high school setting. I really hoped you enjoyed my fic, and go read "In the Days We Deemed Dull!"  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/sunnybearhyuck)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/things_nct)  
> 


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